Officials: Ballistics network needs more time to yield charges

Darrell Stein the Houston Forensic Science Center Firearms Section manager, demonstrates the a federal database known as the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network used to track guns being used in violent crime by comparing matches with a bullet casing, Tuesday, April 18, 2017, in Houston. less

Darrell Stein the Houston Forensic Science Center Firearms Section manager, demonstrates the a federal database known as the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network used to track guns being used ... more

Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle

Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle

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Darrell Stein the Houston Forensic Science Center Firearms Section manager, demonstrates the a federal database known as the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network used to track guns being used in violent crime by comparing matches with a bullet casing, Tuesday, April 18, 2017, in Houston. less

Darrell Stein the Houston Forensic Science Center Firearms Section manager, demonstrates the a federal database known as the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network used to track guns being used ... more

Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle

Officials: Ballistics network needs more time to yield charges

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It has been seven months since the Beaumont Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco and Firearms unveiled a new ballistics network they say could help solve cold cases in and around Southeast Texas.

After more than 200 entries produced about 40 leads, the system has yet to yield an arrest or charge. But both BPD and the ATF said the system needs more time.

During a news conference in October, Beaumont Police Chief James Singletary said he was excited to add the National Integrated Ballistics Intelligence Network to his department’s lists of resources.

Bullet casings gathered from a crime scene are entered into the machine, which renders a three-dimensional image of the casing using lasers. Investigators look for two markings left by the gun’s firing pin and the extracting rod, which act as unique fingerprints that can match a casing to a gun with a 99% accuracy rate.

The results are put into a statewide database. Officers also can have access to other states’ databases upon request if a suspect recently has moved from another area.

Beaumont Police Capt. Chris Schuldt said BPD has 210 entries in the system. Of those, officers have found 44 leads on previously unsolved cases, he said.

“If a match comes up, it is sent back as a lead to our detectives,” he said. “We look into and compare it. We see if there are suspects in one case. If they are, they become suspects for the case that the gun is linked to. We are currently looking into these leads and following up on them as best we can. Some of them end up as dead ends. The thing is, we might be able to solve that crime down the road if we get a fresh link that has information attached to it.”

In October, Singletary said he would like for other nearby agencies to also put ballistic evidence into the database. Only BPD has entered evidence as of May 12, Schuldt said. The main reason other departments have not been able to enter casings is the lack of training.

“They would have to come in and enter their own (evidence) because of the way the system is set up,” Schuldt said. “We hope to at some point have representatives from other agencies come in and use it to get more entries from the area…The way it works, personnel from there department has to be trained. Our personnel got trained. After they have done so many entries, then they will be able to go to classes to teach someone else from the area how to use the machine…It’s a process that we are working on. We want to do the best for the region.”

He said he did not know how many entries a person needs to be able to attend the classes, adding that BPD is not sending anyone for training during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re hoping within the next six months or so to be able to take those next steps,” he said.

ATF special agent Marlin Ford said, since 2016, ATF Houston crime gun strike force has made more than 200 arrests based off the network’s findings.

“With time, we expect to see similar results in Beaumont,” he said. “We won’t have the same volume as a major city like Houston. We have an ongoing investigation in Beaumont that has six incidents of violent crime that have been linked through NIBIN. We have potential here. It’s coming.”

Schuldt said the network made a connection between a Beaumont crime and a Houston crime.

“We’ve had one case link to a case from Houston,” Schuldt said. “I don’t think we were able to solve it, but it did add information to our case and we were able to add information to their case. Most of the links we have found have been Beaumont crime to Beaumont crime.”

Ford said just because there is a link in the system, does not necessarily mean the shooter is the same in both crimes.

“Guns are a hot commodity on the street,” he said. “You have some guns that are considered ‘community guns’ and they move from one person to the next. You could have one person that uses one gun all the time. It just depends on the situation.”

ATF spokesperson Nicole Strong said even if a gun is used by multiple people, it can still be an investigative tool.

“We can go to the guy that had the gun last registered and start asking him questions,” she said. “It could’ve been a suspect that we wouldn’t have otherwise identified.”

Singletary said he is not putting a time limit on when NIBIN should start yielding results.

“We know that it is going to take some time,” Singletary said. “We are comparing our situation to Houston and we look at how successful they have been.

“We don’t have the volume of crimes they have in Houston, but we are excited about the potential for this. We have several leads that we are looking at. We have a lot of good things to build on.

“Down the road, I think this is going to be a heck of a tool for law enforcement in Southeast Texas.”